Women’s Bar Foundation of Massachusetts
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Margaret E. Talmers, Executive Director MTalmers@womensbar.org
W. Lola Remy, Director of Pro Bono Programs LRemy@womensbar.org
Women’s Bar Foundation of Massachusetts (617) 973-6666
Women's Bar Foundation to Honor
Morrison & Foerster LLP and
Laurie Burlingame of Morgan Lewis & Bockius with its
Nery J. Arrano Pro Bono Award
BOSTON – March 22, 2024 – The Women’s Bar Foundation (WBF) looks forward to hosting its signature fundraiser, Whoop it Up for Women! Comedy Night at the Boston Harbor Hotel on May 2, 2024. This terrific evening of entertainment and laughter raises critical funds for the Women’s Bar Foundation.
The WBF will present one law firm and one volunteer attorney with the Nery J. Arrano Pro Bono Award for their outstanding service to the WBF’s low-income clients.
The law firm of Morrison & Foerster LLP has been a strong partner and generous supporter of the WBF since 2020. The firm, also known as MoFo, was excited to partner with the WBF’s Elder Law Project (ELP), which serves low-income elders in need of wills, powers of attorney and other essential documents. Currently, twenty-five MoFo volunteer attorneys now advise and prepare essential documents for ELP clients. About half of all ELP cases referred in 2023 were placed with MoFo volunteer attorneys.
The WBF will also honor Laurie Burlingame, Esq., a Transactional Life Sciences partner at Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP in Boston. She has been a volunteer with the WBF’s Family Law Project for Domestic Abuse Survivors since 2020. In that time, Laurie represented numerous survivors of domestic abuse in 209A proceedings. She is generous with her time, mentoring newer attorneys at her firm, as well as mentoring volunteer attorneys at other firms. Laurie does not shy away from difficult cases, often accepting them on very short notice.
“The WBF is thrilled to honor Morrison Foerster and attorney Laurie Burlingame’s dedication and strong commitment to providing effective legal assistance to our low-income clients. We salute the energy they bring to this important work, and the enthusiasm for pro bono work that they share with the greater legal community.” Margaret Caulfield, Women’s Bar Foundation President.
This year, the WBF is excited to feature comedian Kristin Key! Kristin is most recognized for her appearances on NBC with her TV debut on Last Comic Standing and her recent performance on Bring the Funny. Additional credits include Comics Unleashed, VH-1’s 100 Greatest Series, The Bob and Tom show, and SiriusXM Satellite Radio.
The generous Whoop It Up for Women! Comedy Night sponsors, numerous law firms and companies, as well as the proceeds from the live auction and raffle, help to raise nearly half of the WBF’s annual budget. These funds make possible the vital work of the WBF’s pro bono projects: the Family Law Project for Domestic Abuse Survivors, the Elder Law Project, the Women’s Prison and Re-Entry Project’s interactive legal presentations to incarcerated women awaiting re-entry into society and its Clemency Project. These projects provide low-income individuals, primarily women and their families, with desperately needed legal assistance on critical legal issues.
To learn more and sponsor this exciting event, please visit https://www.wbfcomedy.org/.
About the Women’s Bar Foundation
Established as a 501(c)(3) organization in 1993 by the Women’s Bar Association, the WBF is dedicated to ensuring access to justice for low-income individuals, by creating a community dedicated to providing free legal assistance to those individuals and their families. The WBF recruits and trains volunteer attorneys to address legal issues that disproportionately affect low- income women and their children. To date, the WBF has served thousands of low-income domestic violence survivors, incarcerated women, and elderly women and men. For more information, please visit www.womensbar.org.
105 Chauncy Street, 8th Floor | Boston, MA 02111 | 617.973.6666 | http://www.womensbar.org